Should you make your kids pay for screen time?

Parents are always looking for the best way to strategize limits on screen time. A Silicon Valley mom wrote for PopSugar about her latest success story, charging her kids for their minutes with video games, the tablet or the smartphone. Cristina Margolis says it isn’t screen time that she disagrees with, she just has a desire to create opportunities for her kids to learn hard work and find fun in other forms.

For her 6 and 8 year old children, she gives them age appropriate chores and instead of rewarding them with an allowance, she offers coins that can be returned for an allotted time on their devices. Read more about the process in her article.

“Our children are growing up in a fast-paced, technology-hungry world. I believe it’s important for them to be enriched by the technology, because there are so many great benefits, but not consumed by it. I would never want my children to feel entitled to screen time. I want them to know it’s a privilege and reward for them putting their family and responsibilities first. And as far as I know, there’s no app for that.”

Well, Cristina, we hope we’ve created just the app for that! We hope WebSafety can encourage parents to be more involved in what their kids are doing online and help limit that screen time if they choose.

We think Cristina’s process of monitoring screen time is a great way to encourage responsibility around digital devices. Has your family tried something that works? We want to hear about it! Share with us in a comment or email us at info@websafety.com.